Friday, August 31, 2007

Fastest Summer Ever

Can't believe in two weeks we'll be in Moncton. Seems like the sad flight home from Game 5 in Buffalo was about six weeks ago. As fast as it's gone, I really look forward to the time when the NYI have a summer like the Ducks, 'Canes and Lightningsesess have had:

1. win Cup, celebrate like every day's an ep of "Entourage," don't sleep for a week

2. sit at NHL Awards ceremony with giant grin while teams that didn't win Cup get individual awards

3. pick 30th overall at the draft and talk about how this day is truly the lifeblood of your organization, all the while really wondering what's the best establishment to go in the host city where you'll get the most pseudo-sincere congratulatory drinks sent to your table by your rivals

4. take care of free agency on July 1, knowing you're playing with house money. (Unless someone raids one of your Group IIs...then you can bring back the "draft is the lifeblood" speech).

5. See #1 throughout July, then get back on the arc and treadmill in August, using the official NHL DVD of your Cup victory as your soundtrack


Gosh, I can't wait. Anyway...


Moncton should be very interesting. Like most teams in this era, on the surface there doesn't appear to be a lot of competition for jobs, but from day one I think we'll get a good idea of what Ted plans to do with his lines. One of the many things I like about Ted's straightforward coaching style is that he doesn't play games. Chances are he'll start putting realistic combinations together as early as the first practice on Friday.

The other highlight for me for the first week of camp: watching Greg Logan fly commercial all over Eastern Canada. Ethics apparently preclude him from chartering with the team -- as if we expect him to be all positive if the NYI get smoked in a preseason game. So this means Greg will have to find his own way from Moncton, New Brunswick to North Bay, Ontario to St. John's, Newfoundland and back to Moncton over a 72-hour period.

My dad always told me it's better when you can be part of a team.

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